562 



NA TURE 



[Fed. 19, 1885 



absolutely highest temperature, 9S°'8, occurred at 4 p.m. 

 on July 30 under very striking circumstances. For four 

 days previously auroras had been observed in the United 

 States : the magnetic and electrical conditions showed 

 marked disturbances at Havana ; atmospheric pressure, 

 which had been low, began to rise on the 30th, on which 

 day, at 2 p.m., the relative humidity fell to 45, but rose 

 four hours after to 84. The temperature, which at 4 p.m. 

 was 98 '8, thereafter instantly and rapidly fell, and by 

 6 p.m had fallen to 78 J -8. The lowest temperature for the 

 year, 5 5 "g, occurred at 6 a.m. on December 16, at the 

 termination of a "norther," which overspread the sky 

 with cirri, attended with solar and lunar halos ; and was 

 immediately followed by a low barometer, remarkable 

 hygrometric changes and irregularities in the direction 

 and velocity of the wind. 



Excepting a greater tendency to southing during the 

 warmer months, the wind varies little in direction from 

 month to month. The diurnal variation is interesting. 

 From 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. it is E. by S. ; at 10 a.m. E. by 

 N. : from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. N.N.E. ; 4 p.m. N.E. ; 6 p.m. 

 E.N.E. ; and at S p.m. E., thus showing in a marked 

 manner the influence of the sea breeze at Havana. The 

 daily changes in the wind's velocity are verv large. The 

 minimum occurs from 4 to 6 a.m., and the maximum 

 from noon to 4 p.m., the maximum velocity being four 

 times greater than the minimum. The strongest winds 

 occur in April, and the weakest in November; the wind, 

 in April blowing with double the velocity of those in 

 -November. As regards direction, the strongest winds 

 are the sea winds which blow from N.N.E. and E., and 

 the weakest the land-winds from E.S.E., S.E., and S.W., 

 the former blowing with double the force of the latter. 



The annual curve of thunderstorms is a very decided 

 one. Of the eighty recorded during 1875, sixty-five 

 occurred during the five months from May to September, 

 .and only three during the four months from January to 

 March and December. The annual rainfall was 4239 

 inches, about half of the whole amount falling in August 

 and September, during which time 2o"6i inches fell. 

 Only a quarter of an inch fell in December, and half an 

 inch in November. The total evaporation for the year was 

 about 60 inches, the maximum, 6 '92 inches, being'in April, 

 when the air is driest and the winds strongest, and the 

 minimum 360 inches in September, October, and No- 

 vember, when the air is most highly saturated and the 

 force of the wind least. As regards the occurrence of 

 rain at different periods of the day, more than 50 per cent, 

 of the whole hours during which rain is noted to have 

 fallen were between noon and 6 p.m., thus closely asso- 

 ciating the rainfall with the diurnal period of the thunder- 

 storms. The almost total absence of the thunderstorm 

 from the rains of the winter months, as compared with 

 the summer months, when lightning, or some other electric 

 phenomenon occurs almost daily, is an important feature 

 in the climate of Havana from its bearing on the theory 

 of the thunderstorm. 



^THE WHALE EXHIBITION IN HAMBURG 



DURING the autumn of last year an exhibition of con- 

 siderable novelty and interest to zoologists was held 

 in Hamburg, embracing complete skeletons, parts, and 

 cram. 1. of whales, products of the same, and apparatus 

 used for catching these greatest organisms of the world 

 • from the earliest times to the present day. 



The suggestion for tin, exhibition came from the writer 

 of these lines, who offered to exhibit three of the greatest 

 fin-whale skeletons in existence. Dr. H. Bolau, direc- 

 tor of the Zoological Gardens in Hamburg, succeeded, 

 in spite of many obstacles, in arranging this exhibition 

 and collecting' interesting and valuable material, to- 

 wards which Prof. Pagenstecher, director of the Natu- 



ral History Museum, also contributed greatly by arrang- 

 ing the exhibits and obtaining several rare specimens 

 acquired by the German Expedition of 18S2-83 to South 

 Georgia. In this part were also some splendid water- 

 colour drawings from this island, executed by Herr Most- 

 1 . 1 1 1", which were greatly admired. 



The exhibition, which was divided into four parts, viz. 

 one for the whale fauna, one for the hunting-gear, one 

 for the whale products, and one historic-ethnographical, 

 took place partly in the open, partly in a hall. 



In the first section, naturally, the Cetacea:, were most 

 prominent, these monsters being mounted in the Gardens. 

 Of true Balaenidse, the Hamburg Zoological Museum ex- 

 hibited a cranium of Balcvua mysticctus, L., a very fine 

 specimen. Otherwise the Balaenopteridae, or fin-whales, 

 were most numerous, there being four different species 

 of this family. The most imposing of them all was the 

 skeleton of the "blue" whale (JSalanofitera sibbaldzi, Gray), 

 the greatest animal on earth. It measured 75 feet in 

 length, and was mounted in [its natural position. The 

 specimen seemed to have been full grown, as no division 

 between the epiphyse and the vertebral body could be 

 discovered. As an individual osteological curiosity may 

 be mentioned that the jugal bone consisted of two bones, 

 a smaller and a larger piece, which are closely united by 

 strong ligaments. 



Not far from this specimen stood the skeleton of the 

 common fine-whale (Balanoptera tnusculus, Companyo), 

 63 feet long, which was, as Prof. Flower describes it, " in 

 adolescent state." The greater part of the thoracic and 

 lumbal vertebras showed distinct separation between 

 the epiphyses and the vertebral body, which was 

 also the case with the limbs. Although the length 

 between these two species is not so very great, there 

 is a marked difference between their structure. The 

 fine-whale is remarkable for its lightness and ele- 

 gance ; in proportion to its great length, some parts of 

 the skeleton seem indeed quite fragile, whereas the blue 

 whale shows throughout in its structure a massiveness 

 bespeaking enormous muscular powers. The difference 

 became even more striking when the fin-whale was com- 

 pared with a third species, the Mpgaptera boops, O. Fabr. 

 This skeleton was 54 feet long, and therefore a large 

 individual, and was found dead at sea between the coasts 

 of Norway and Russia. From the complete development 

 of the ossification and coalescence of epiphyses with 

 the vertebral bodies and respective diaphyses of the 

 extremities it was clearly a full-grown animal. It gives 

 an impression of heaviness, on account of the short, 

 thick bones and the great length of the fore-limbs, 14-15 

 feet, which is very apparent. To this individual belongs 

 the whale-bone complex, part of which was shown. Near 

 1 he same a cranium of this species of whale was exhibited 

 with a complete whale-bone complex. This was a very 

 fine specimen, and was prepared for the Museum of 

 Natural Sciences at Stuttgart, where it now is. 



The above-mentioned skeletons and crania were pre- 

 pared b\ me in 18S3 at the whaling establishments at 

 Vardo" (lat. 703° N.), but the three skeletons, which were, 

 I may be permitted to say, very complete and fine speci- 

 mens, I had steamed and finished in Hamburg. 



In the open, too, there was mounted a skeleton of 

 Balanoptera rostrata, Fabr., the smallest of all fin- 

 whales ; but this specimen left much to be desired in the 

 way of completeness and finish. It was, however, inte- 

 resting by its history and age, and is perhaps the oldest 

 Cetacea in any museum. For 200 years it has been 

 instated in the town hall at Bremen, where there is an 

 inscription on the wall to the effect that the animal 

 stranded at Bremerhafen on May 9, 1669, whence it was 

 brought to Bremen, and the skeleton accorded the above- 

 mentioned honour. 



As representative of the great "tooth ' whales, there 

 was the lo«er jaw of a spermaceti whale belonging to an 



